Uryu Ishida's Dilemma
by bubbamax1990
Summary: Uryu Ishida is up against his worst nightmare when he receives an unexpected marriage proposal from the most unlikely direction. What's worse is that no-one seems to understand his dilemma, making him feel like even more of a social reject than he always has. Can Uryu survive this epic battle of comedic misunderstandings, unrequited love and family feuds?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter one:**

It was clear and beautiful blue skies as ever in Karakura-cho, and for Uryu Ishida- yet another ordinary day. As we all know this was normally Ichigo's line, but it had somehow found its way into Uryu's high-flying life.

His leather brown school shoes scraped across the pavement as he dragged himself to school. When he was a quarter of the way there he heard a familiarly comfortingly ordinary voice of one of his besties- Kurosaki Ichigo.

"Heeeeeeeyyyy! Uryu blud!" Ichigo ran upto Uryu and smacked him wholeheartedly on the back, which made him tumble forward, the harsh winds carrying him all the way to the end of the street.

"Oww!" He moaned, brushing the debris of his blazer.

The two walked on, talking about the Daily Doing's companionably until they were half way to school. Then Uryu heard another shout coming from his other bestie, one which brought him much joy and happiness- Inou Orihime.

"Hello Uryu! Hey Ichigo! Great weather this morning no?" She said cheerfully

"Fantastic weather indeed!" Uryu replied.

The three began to chat about more light-hearted subjects until they were a quarter of a way away from school when yet another holler boomed throughout the street.

Sado ol' pal jogged forth "Mmm! Hey Ichigo, Orihime, Uryu!"

The four began to discuss the nature of your average parakeet until they reached the school, and furthermore their classroom.

From then on, things got averager and averager until the school day was over.

Renji finished setting aside all the desks and seats in the classroom, and then he began dusting the ceiling "So, what're we getting up to after this?"

"How about we go back to my place?" Chad suggested "Burrito bowls on me"

Orihime's eyes lit up with delight "Mmm! That sounds yum! Tatsuki, Rukia, you coming!?"

"Coming where?" Tatsuki asked, putting the green-board eraser down.

"To Chad's for his signature Burrito Bowl"

"Wow, that sounds like a plan! We is coming!" Rukia said.

Ichigo threw the broom he was using to sweep the classroom floor aside "Can't wait! Your coming too, right Uryu?"

"Sure, if you don't mind Sado?"

"Course he doesn't mind! It'll be a laff" Ichigo answered on Chad's behalf.

Keigo looked back and forth between everyone "HEEEEYYY! THAT'S NOT FAIR! If you guys are all going to Chad's then so I am!" He yelled "STOP LEAVING ME OUT GUYS!" he rocketed himself towards Tatsuki for sympathy but was met with a lightning-quick punch.

Uryu put the window-cleaner back in the cleaning supplies cupboard, placing the mop and bucket infront of it before closing the cupboard door. "Honestly, The chores they make us pupils do- I'll never understand."

And with that they were off. But just as they left the school yard, Uryu got a sudden phone call. He stared at the phone number for a while.

Ichigo looked over "You getting that?"

"Of course" He let out a weary sigh and told the others to go on ahead before answering "Hello Ryuuken dear."

On the other side of the phone Ryuuken slammed his fists down on his office-desk, making some paperwork flutter in the air. "We've discussed this before Oryu, you are to call me Father! Show some respect boy! How much older than you do you think I am?"

Uryu inhaled deeply "Sorry, I forget. Your more like my little brother then my Father."

Ryuuken clicked his tongue disapproving and shook his head "Where are you right now?" He demanded

"On my way home from school, why do you want to know?"

His father laughed "Because I want to spend some **good** quality time with you son. Go home, get dressed and I'll see you in around a few hours. You better be home by the time I arrive or you'll regret it." Ryuuken said threateningly before hanging up.

Uryu felt an inner urge to disobey his father and pay no heed to aforementioned threat, but they had both come to an agreement since attending counselling sessions for the broken home that they would put more effort into their relationship- maintaining strong ties always coming first. Since going to the sessions Father and Son had both gotten alot of their chests, communicating in positive ways and telling each other things they would normally hide. Uryu would listen quietly to Ryuuken's lengthy rants about his disappointment in him and the failure of a son he was without interrupting. But Uryu too would eventually get a chance to tell Ryuuken what a useless father he had been, and how parental guidance from a she-camel would've been more helpful than the fathering style Ryuuken had adopted.

With their oath in the back of his mind he decided to bite the bullet and spend the evening with his father, giving a brief explanation to his friends about the situation before making his long journey home.

Uryu lived in a stylish apartment building which was further from town than the rest of his friends houses. The neighbourhood was swanky and had deliberately placed greenery, the tree's adding beautiful vibrancy and colour. On sunny days Ishida often liked to take his sketchbook to the sprawling parks that were nearby and draw fashion designs for hours.

As Uryu stabbed the key into his front-door he spied one of his neighbours from the corner of his eye. It was Hiromichi Haru, a businessman in his early thirties whom Ishida had become well acquainted with and had known for over a year now.

"Good afternoon Mr. Haru, how are you doing today?" Uryu greeted

"I'm doing well young lad, how about yourself?

"I am likewise doing well." he looked at the carrier bags Hiromichi seemed to be struggling to carry "Do you need a hand with those?"

The friendly businessman chuckled pleasantly "No, no, I've got this. Just need to pop these in the kitchen, you know how it is. Then, I'll see you later young lad."


	2. Chapter 2

div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"strongspan style="font-size: 22pt;"Chapter Two:/span/strong/div  
div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 22pt;" /span/div  
div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 16pt;"Uryu waited for Hiromichi to go inside before finishing unlocking the door to his own apartment, and hitting the shower. After some careful thinking he got dressed into his favourite designer dark-wash jeans that were folded at the bottom revealing a strip of white, paired with a crisp shirt and a soft mulberry coloured jumper on top. Once satisfied with his outfit he began pacing around the living room, anxiously awaiting the arrival of his father. He wondered if he should nip outside to buy some groceries for dinner. He'd forgotten to do the weekly shop and so there were no ingredients he could use to rustle up a meal for two. Or maybe they would just eat out... /span/div  
div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 16pt;"Suddenly the doorbell rang- Uryu's heart leapt and started beating frantically- Ryuuken had arrived, and a lot quicker then anticipated. He grabbed himself a glass of water and took a gulp of it in a bid to calm himself. Just as he was about to take another sip the doorbell rang again and Uryu could feel the impatience building. He put the glass back down and opened the door. /span/div  
div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 16pt;""What took you so bloody long!?" Ryuuken barked furiously, but when he saw his son's expression he inhaled deeply in an effort to contain his annoyance. /span/div  
div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 16pt;"Quickly, Ryuuken grabbed Uryu's hand and pulled him outside "Knowing you I'll bet you have nothing prepared for tonight's meal? We can have a little father-son bonding time while we take a trip to the supermarket, eh?" He said warmly nudging his son as he led him to his car. /span/div  
div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 16pt;"The whole way to the supermarket and back Ryuuken behaved chirpy and affectionate which took Uryu by surprise, he had simply assumed that he would be in a bad mood the entire evening. For some reason his father's friendliness unsettled him, gave him the 'eebie jeebies, as though some unavoidable danger was coming his way. But he tried brushing it off and enjoy the good company as long as it lasted. /span/div  
div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 16pt;"span style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', NotoColorEmoji, 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Android Emoji', EmojiSymbols;"Without further thought to Ryuuken's strange behaviour, they bought the necessary ingredients for dinner and a fancy cake for dessert./spanbr /span/div  
div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 16pt;""Such a spacious apartment you have son. Quite the waste for just one person, eh?" Ryuuken remarked as he whipped out a forsaken cooking pan out of the cubbie. /span/div  
div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 16pt;"Uryu looked around and observed his living space for a moment before turning back to dicing some potatoes "Really? I am sure you were the one who was saying that it is an an ugly cramped bachelor-cave before..."/span/div  
div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 16pt;""That was me? I don't recall" Ryuuken cried taken aback "You must be mistaken. Why, never! Your apartment is truly an ideal place for two, maybe even more if it came to it."/span/div  
div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 16pt;""Your right, I am fortunate I could find such ample accommodation. I hear it's becoming a rare thing to come by in Japan these days."/span/div  
div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 16pt;""Indeed" Ryuuken nodded, drizzling a splash of oil into the pan before throwing in some finely chopped onions and carrots and allowing them to sizzle. "Though surely," he began "Surely you must get lonely, living here all by yourself- especially when your friend's can't always visit due to travel issues"/span/div  
div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 16pt;""Hmm" Uryu bopped his head. /span/div  
div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 16pt;"But it wasn't quite the answer Ryuuken was looking for "What do you mean, HMM?" he mimicked "That's hardly good manners is it? Have I taught you nothing about social etiquette?"/span/div  
div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 16pt;""Oh... Sorry... What was I meant to say?" Uryu asked, wondering what he did wrong/span/div  
div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 16pt;"Ryuuken snorted "I asked you if you get lonely by yourself, so what's HMM supposed to mean?"/span/div  
div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 16pt;""Aaaaahh... I seeeee... I understaaand"/span/div  
div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 16pt;""And quiet with that ludicrous sing-song tone!" Ryuuken snapped/span/div  
div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 16pt;"Uryu quickly straightened up "Actually I don't get all lonely. I'm at school for most of the week afterall, so I see my friend's a good amount. And now I have you visiting too" He smiled at his Father pleasantly /span/div  
div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 16pt;"Ryuuken chuckled "Typical. You can never just give a proper answer can you? I didn't ask you to make the best of the situation, I wanted a genuine response."/span/div  
div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 16pt;""It was genuine" Uryu watched as Ryuuken chucked the potatoes into the pan and then stirred in a tub of cream, before adding a sprig of thyme and a cinnamon stick. He gulped, wondering how much his Father would force him to eat this time. He hoped it would be a normal sized portion./span/div  
div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 16pt;""You said you don't get all /em lonely, no? Which implies that you do still get lonely, sometimes" Ryuuken explained, whirring the thick bubbling broth around with his wooden spoon before turning his attention to preparing the fish./span/div  
div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 16pt;"Uryu half laughed at the analysis "Why are you so insistent that I feel lonely?"/span/div  
div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 16pt;"Ryuuken breathed in deeply "Because I know how difficult it must be for you. Coming back from a long hard day at school only to be greeted by a cold empty apartment, with no home-cooked food on the table and no smiles to brighten up your day." /span/div  
div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 16pt;""I appreciate your concern but like I said, I see my friends almost every day of the week. And school isn't difficult for me" /span/div  
div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 16pt;"Ryuuken shook his head as he wrapped up the fish in cooking paper and proceeded to slide it into the preheated oven to slow-cook "Fine, fine. Your not lonely because you see your friend's at school. But what about the rest of your day? How about your evenings and nights? You must feel so secluded and empty." He persisted/span/div  
div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 16pt;"Uryu was slowly getting tired of this discussion "I'm sleeping at night so I don't have much time to feel empty"/span/div  
div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 16pt;""No, no" He wagged his finger "I heard through the grapevine that you have bouts of Insomnia, so what do you do about the nights then son?"/span/div  
div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 16pt;"Uryu exhaled exasperatedly. He knew his father just wasn't going to let this go no matter what he said. "Fine, your right. I feel really lonely, isolated and unwanted. I can't put into words how darned lonely I am after I get back from school" he exaggerated until Ryuuken was pleased. /span/div  
div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 16pt;""You see!" Ryuuken grinned triumphantly "I knew it. My instincts never fail me." He led Uryu to the dining table and sat opposite him. "It's for this very reason my son, that I feel it's time for you to marry."/span/div  
div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 16pt;"Uryu sat still as a statue for a good few minutes, his mouth left open ever so slightly, unable to comprehend what his father had just said. "What?" /span/div  
div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 16pt;""Marriage Uryu, marriage" /span/div  
div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 16pt;""Umm... That was kind of random Ryuuken, I mean Father." Uryu managed to spit out. Then all of a sudden he started breathing faster then ever and panic raced all throughout his body "Wait, NO! I am NOT marrying some random cousin!" he burst out, raising his voice more then he planned. "No." He repeated for good measure. He knew there was a reason Ryuuken suddenly kept taking him out to family reunions across the globe, and all that talk of him being lonely out of the blue... He should have realized sooner! Last time marriage within the family came up (which was quite some years ago) things had gotten out of control. He had to put a stop to this now before history repeated itself "I'm absolutely not marrying Hedwig, or Nadja, or anyone of them for that matter! I know your desperate to scrape back what little family honour you have left after you abandoned Grandfather, but this is not the way to go about it!" /span/div  
div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 16pt;""Enough! Stop panicking Uryu, this is not what I was talking about" Ryuuken spoke calmly, enduring his son's behaviour with all that was in him. "You've got it all wrong, I haven't got any of your cousins in mind." He said fetching a drink of water for Uryu. /span/div  
div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 16pt;"He took it gratefully and downed it quickly before splashing the remainders on his face. "So why are you bringing up marriage all of a sudden then?"/span/div  
div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 16pt;""Because, Son, while I have given up on the idea of betrothing you to one of your cousins I still feel that you should get married. It's the right thing for you, now that you are a mature man"/span/div  
div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"span style="font-size: 16pt;""Did you have to give me such a heart-attack just to tell me that I'm mature enough to get married?" Uryu said, still feeling the after-effect, even though he knew he was the one at fault for jumping to conclusions. /span/div 


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Things fell quiet as Ryuuken got up to check on the food. Once he'd taken the fish out of the oven he arranged it ontop of the vegetables in the hotpot to cook for a further 35 mins. Meanwhile Uryu was still thinking of the crazy things that had just happened. What was with the friendly marital reminder out of nowhere? Unless Ryuuken had someone in mind it was unlike him to suddenly bring up marriage. And since the cousins were crossed off the list then clearly it wasn't to do with family bribes/honour. So then why? Suddenly it dawned on him, like an unforgiving nightmare that was out for revenge. That was it. Ryuuken was suffering from a life-threatening disease. It was so deadly that it could take his life from him at any given moment, maybe even tomorrow! It certainly explained why he was being so tolerant and forgiving. That's why he was talking about being lonely and marriage. He knew that soon Uryu would be all on his own, a fatherless orphan. All he wanted as his last wish was to see his son married and happy, he wanted to see the day with his own eyes. Once the truth was out Uryu felt a deep regretful pain. He swallowed hard. He should have been nicer to his Father. Why did he have to behave like such a bratty child all the time? Why could he never forgive and forget the past? Uryu was so lost in his chaotic thoughts that he didn't realize how much time had past. "Dinner's ready." Ryuuken said, breaking him free from his trance.

"Oh" He looked up and watched as his father plated up the food and poured in the drinks. He wasn't sure what to do or say. What did people say to their dying dad's? "Father." Uryu squeaked, his voice turning out higher then he meant.

"What's wrong? Eat up!" Ryuuken ordered, cutting the fish up into bite-size pieces, before getting back to his own food.

Uryu thought about his father's last wish again. Then it hit him, this time like a clear and true beautiful dream. Orihime! she was the answer! He intended to propose to her all along, when he gathered up the guts of course. The thought of Orihime rejecting him was so petrifying that he couldn't bring himself to ask her in the past. And there was less chance she would say yes because they were still too 'Young' in the universes mind, and he wasn't sure if she concurred with that philosophy or not, but with the will of his father he was sure it'd give him all the strength he needed.

"Father... Actually, there is someone I have in mind-"

"Uryu!" Ryuuken cut him short "The truth is, putting your cousins to one side, I have someone in mind that I would like you to marry."

"Wha-? W-who?"

Ryuuken clasped his hands together "We've been planning this for a long time, and we came to the conclusion that it was for the best." he scratched his head a little "Isshin and I... We're both such good friends. Always have been. We are like brother's from another mother. I see the same relationship that he and I have in you and that Ichigo."

"And?"

Ryuuken sighed some more, in a fatherly sort of fashion "As you know... Isshin also has daughters... Two young girls.

Karin and Yuzu, you might remember- you've met them a few times in the past, I believe... Lovely girls, lovely." Ryuuken did some more pausing, while simultaneously paying no heed to how his son was taking in this information "Isshin was very generous when I told him I was worried you'd remain a bachelor to the grave and he.. He kindly offered that you take one of his daughters under your wing."

Uryu felt himself go still like a rock once more. He prayed that this wasn't going in the direction he thought it was going, but it had. It was like a mental car-crash that made little sense. He wondered if someone had spiked his drink with some mad cocaine and this was all just a strange dream. "How did you come to the conclusion that I should marry one of Ichigo's i _sisters_ /i?" He croaked finally.

Ryuuken laughed in a parental way "We've been talking about this for months Uryu. Me, Isshin, Karin, Yuzu, and Ichigo."

Uryu didn't think for a moment that there was anything else that could add to the deranged hallucinations he was having.

"This isn't just something I plucked out of thin air. I've thought about this carefully, and we all came to the conclusion that Yuzu is the best match for you. This is the perfect chance to rebuild the Quincy bloodline- Yuzu being one of the rare people left on earth who still have faint Quincy powers as you know, plus she is a mild enough lady to handle your tantrums- the family honour shall be restored!" Ryuuken finished enthusiastically.

"So you aren't dying afterall?" was the first thing Uryu managed to say "So this i _was_ /i about family honour afterall?"

"What are you on about? I'm not following you." Ryuuken chuckled, still reeling from his own excitement at the plan "And hurry with your food, you've barely touched it!"

Uryu stabbed his fork into a potato, and kept stabbing it. "Your telling me... That you guys have all been sitting around the camp-fire chatting about my future without telling me? at all?"

"Well I've told you now!" Ryuuken snorted, taking a large swig of his apple and raspberry non-alcoholic bubbly.

"There is no way I'd ever go through with that!" Uryu threw his hands into the air "Ichigo! Ichigo would never agree with that either! he'd be so angry! he'd never forgive me!" he said trying to get to grips with the fact that this may just be reality.

"Ichigo was chuffed about these arrangements as a matter of fact. He was the one who suggested Yuzu of the two girls, afterall. He thinks the world of you son, he believes you will treat and nurture his sister rightly." Ryuuken explained.

Uryu was baffled. the shocks just kept on coming. "Then Yuzu herself! She definitely wouldn't want to ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ev-"

"Get on with it!" Ryuuken yelled fast losing his perseverance

"-er ever EVER want to MARRY i _me_ /i!" Uryu gasped, catching his breath.

"That is quite the assumption when the truth of the matter is Yuzu is excited about meeting you and getting the plans rolling asap. She really admires you, and respects her brothers choice for her husband-to-be" Uryu shuddered at the sentence 'Her Husband-to be'. He felt extremely disturbed to say the least.

"She's willing to get to know you and all" Ryuuken continued "So the only thing that remains to know, son, is if you will ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ev-"

"NO!" Uryu interrupted "I will not ever ever ever ever ever ev-"

"AND JUST WHY NOT!?" Ryuuken exploded suddenly, his gentle demeanour vanishing just as suddenly as it had appeared. "WHY WONT YOU" here he mimicked Uryu's high-pitched voice "i _ever ever ever/i_ WHEN YOU HAVEN'T EVEN MET THE GIRL! YOU HAVE NO EXCUSES, NO BASIS FOR YOUR ARGUMENT!"

"I do have reasons!" Uryu defended "This is some mistake! Ichigo must have just been joking or something when he recommended Yuzu! And me marrying into the Kurosaki's would probably just end up ruining mine and Ichigo's relationship! I don't want-"

"YOU ARE JUST COMING UP WITH ANY OLD BULL& %# THAT COMES TO YOUR MIND TO GO AGAINST YOUR FATHERS WISHES NOW AREN'T YOU?" At this point Ryuuken had reverted to using his native Germanic language in all his anger, making him sound much like Hitler.

"Your not even listening to me! In fact from the start you have always ignored me! You always used to leave me all by myself wh-"

"Oh Don't you start that one up again you cow!" Ryuuken shouted over Uryu trying to cover up his sins of the past and brush them neatly under the sofa.

Uryu had the strongest urge to grab his bowl full of food and throw it as his dad, but he contained himself. Nothing he said or did would go through Ryuuken's stubborn head, not even a plate smashing against it. Uryu slumped back in his chair and looked out of the window silently, he had given up fighting his case.

"So I take that as a silent approval then" Ryuuken said smugly after ten minutes.

Uryu still didn't say anything, he carried right on staring, almost calmly, at the scenery outside.

"FINE!" Ryuuken roared "BE A SELFISH FAT F%$#*&^ PIECE OF S&^% THEN YOU ! #%^&(((((((((%%%## !" He gave his son a hard slap around the face then stormed out of his apartment.

Uryu's face was flushed and stung painfully, he could feel his eyes stinging too. It all felt rather surreal. It's not that he wanted to disobey Ryuuken, he just wished he would give him a damn chance to explain himself. The way Ryuuken blamed him for everything made him so angry that he wanted to scream, but his throat felt too dry to do any screaming.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four:**

Surprisingly enough Uryu managed to catch a good night of sleep, despite everything that happened. As soon as he laid down he switched off- and he was conked out until day-break.

After bathing and getting dressed into his school uniform he prowled the kitchen for some breakfast. He settled for a strong brew of warm coffee and a slice of that delicious looking cake he and his father had picked up for dessert yesterday. The delicious taste of dark chocolate shards and the tang of cherries made him happier and he was all set for the trek ahead.

Things were just as ordinary as usual on his way to school. He met up with Ichigo, Orihime, and Chad on the way as usual, they chatted breeze as usual, and the mornings lectures were all the usual. The usualness gave Uryu time to think. He just couldn't imagine Ichigo going around helpfully suggesting his name to random marital partner potentials. But then he wondered if he overreacted to everything. It wasn't i _that/i_ unlikely, maybe Ichigo just suggested it fleetingly in his usual el blaze way, thinking nothing of it. Ichigo wasn't a deep thinker afterall, maybe he really ididn't/i care if Yuzu married him. If it happened great, if not then whatevs. Although it didn't take away from the fact that it was a spine-chilling suggestion, and he was still slightly butt-hurt that everyone went behind his back and discussed his future for him. And most importantly that Ryuuken i _expected_ /i him to say yes and if not then he'd go back to being horrible to him. Uryu sighed not knowing what step to take from here. And it annoyed him that he didn't know what step to take. In all the stories boys handled these whacky problems effortlessly, they couldn't care less who they married. They certainly wouldn't worry as much as he was, either they'd say yes or no and then be done with it. Maybe it was more complicated because his relationship with his dad was in the firing line.

"What's up?" Orihime asked, suddenly. The friends were all sitting out on the school grounds, having their lunch. There went Ichigo, making some smart alec remark at what Rukia was saying, with Renji backing her up like he normally did. Chad was chatting to Tatsuki about his Amazon Instant Prime 30 Day Free-Trial which she could use if she wanted, with Keigo going back and forth between all conversations while stuffing his face with teriyaki chicken.

"I'm not up to much, just listening to what all of you guys are saying." He replied.

"You looked like you were thinking up something really deep and important. I know that face of yers!" Orihime laughed cheerfully.

Uryu laughed along "It was nothing." He said, secretly hoping she would persist, because he wanted to tell someone, and he willed her to get a telepathy message from his mind so she'd know.

Sure enough Orihime didn't give up so easily "Okay, here's the deal. I'll give you half of my bento if you spill the beans!"

"Well..." Uryu began quietly "Your going to think it sounds really lady-like and stupid of me."

Orihime put the bento in his lap "Just shut up and tell me!"

"You see..." he began "Ryuuken came over last night and... long story short he started bellowing at me to get married out of nowhere and saying that he's already found someone and that that someone happened to be Yuzu Kurosaki, and I said no way would I ever want to be with her and she wouldn't want to be with me either but he just wasn't taking no for an answer! He was being such a... a stubborn old goat"

Orihime gasped, and so did everyone around her (except Ichigo). Uryu had realized only too late that everyone was tuning in on their convo.

"By Yuzu do you mean i _the_ /iYuzu? As in Ichigo's sister?" Tatsuki gaped.

"And what's wrong with Yuzu that you wouldn't want to marry her?" Ichigo asked, genuinely interested to know.

Uryu swallowed deliberately. That conversation was meant to be private. "There's nothing wrong with her, I just don't want to."

"Well..." Renji started cautiously "You can't just say no for no reason. That'd just be rude." Keigo nodded in agreement "Is it her age putting you off? her looks? her cooking skill?"

Uryu looked at Orihime "There isn't really any reason. I Just can't help that you know..."

"B-but you can't just say no with no reason! that's stupid!" Keigo snorkled

"Here, here!" Tatsuki threw in.

Rukia slurped slowly on her cup-ramen noodles "Why don't you tell us what's wrong? We're your friends, we won't judge!"

Chad wanted to mention that right now that was precisely what they were doing, but he decided to keep out of it for the time being.

"We can help you out, that's what we're for!" Renji added

"Yeah, stop behaving like a little girl! Your worse then Yuzu on her bad days" Ichigo joked.

Uryu knew his main reason why he didn't want to marry Yuzu, but he could hardly tell everyone. Not when he hadn't even proposed to Orihime to begin with. What if he told them and then Orihime was like i _"Eeewww, noway! I'd never be with you!"/i_. How mortifying! He wished he didn't have to be the one asking. Why did it have to be the man asking anyway? Who came up with that rule? Uryu looked at Orihime again. He hoped if he burned his eyes into her soul enough she'd get a telepathic reading, then i _she/i_ could propose to him then and there and clear up any misunderstandings.

But when Uryu realized he wasn't going to be saved that easily he turned to the rest of the friends. "It's not like I'm saying no just for the heck of it. Yuzu isn't some alien to me that I know nothing about. I i _have_ /i met her before on numerous occasions, and she's a good kid don't get me wrong, but I just can't picture anything more then that. Yesterday she was just Ichigo's little sister and now she's suddenly my wife?"

Everyone twitched at the use of the word 'wife'. It just sounded so strange hearing it come from Uryu's mouth.

Renji pondered at what he was getting at "Well look, everyone is always someone else yesterday before you get married to them, y'know? That's no reason to give up. It's okay to say yes if you want to."

"But I don't WANT to say yes, that's the point!" Uryu said "Even if it wasn't weird with her being Ichigo's flesh and blut I still wouldn't... sku..." He knew he wasn't getting anywhere.

"Well if you simply don't want to marry Yuzu even if she was an angel then that's that" Tatsuki said bluntly "Why are you coming up with excuses on top of it? Why don't you just admit nothing will change your mind even if all the problems were solved."

"That's what Uryu tried doing before but you guys were forcing him to have reasons and excuses." Orihime defended.

There was a few minutes of silence as everyone contemplated to themselves.

"I know!" Ichigo said suddenly "Why don't you just meet Yuzu once again, just to be absolutely sure about your decision? maybe you overlooked something, y'know?" For some reason Ichigo thought the idea of Uryu being his brother-in-law quite hilarious and interesting. He wondered why not?

Uryu was surprised at such a suggestion "I'm really positive about my choice. Why force myself to be interested when-"

"YEAAAAH! Thats a great idea!" Rukia jumped in "I mean, I understand where your coming from, but doing a bit more research wouldn't harm, no?"

"It sure wouldn't!" Renji agreed "I'm with Rukia and Ichigo! You should go for this!"

"But I-"

Tatsuki nodded "Yeah, at least i _try/i_ to give it a chance!"

"But-"

"This'll be a great experience if nothing else!" Keigo joined in, fist-pumping eagerly

"Maybe this is something Uryu doesn't want to experience-" Orihime knew someone would talk over her with more encouragement and words of wisdom but she couldn't help but try to fight his corner.

Sure enough the friends were relentless in their suggestions, tips, and persuasion, overwhelming all of Orihime's protestations and Chad's disapproving murmurs.

It was all getting a bit too much, and the pressure built up "Fine!" Uryu snapped before he knew what he was saying- it was almost a reflex to get everyone to stfu.

Everyone went hushed, waiting for what he was going to say next. Just as he was about to take it back Ichigo grabbed his arm and hauled him into the air. "This is great brav! I didn't think you'd be so reasonable!"

"Oh. Em. Gee! I can't believe we managed to win you over!" everyone (except Orihime and Chad) cried in disbelief and happiness.

"That settles it then!" Ichigo grinned "We're off school tomoz because it's the weekend, so come over to my place for lunch!"

"Can't we just go back to your place after we've finished today?" Uryu inquired, eager to get things over and done with.

Ichigo shook his head "I was going to say that, but you'd still be in your school uniform if we went home straight from here"

"What's wrong with wearing our uniform?"

"C'mon! you gotta at least try to make an effort! And I'm sure Yuzu wouldn't want you barging in so unexpectedly, she'd need some time for preparation. It's been decided so that's that!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five:**

It was the next day, and Ichigo got up bright and early to try and clean up the pig-sty of a mess their house was in. It was all Isshin's fault, he was so excited about POETS day that he went overboard with one of his family fun-time moments and wreaked havoc until the wee hours, forcing the children to join in with the boardgames and late night movies.

Ichigo stretched and let out a loud yawn as he put the hoover away and started wiping down the table tops.

"Red alert, red alert, the apocalypse is nigh- Ichi-nee is helping around the house! what's the occasion?" Karin jeered and watched with fascination as she slurped some green fizzy pop through her straw.

"Shut up Karin!" Ichigo threw the dirty cloth at his sister "Why don't you remove your ass from the sofa and make yourself useful by helping with the cleaning!"

Karin snorted "As if! My favourite show is just about to come on tv, I havent got time for chores!"

"Would you two stop bickering? Dad is trying to have a lie-in!" Yuzu cut in before Ichigo had time to retort.

"Whatevs. Anyway 'Uzu, what are you making for lunch today?"

"Oh, lunch? Well I was planning on reheating yesterday's leftovers."

Ichigo gasped with dismay "What!? We cant have smelly leftovers! Can't you make something different today?" he moaned

"Why don't i _you/i_ rustle up something different for a change? or eat out" Karin butted in, ramming a handful of crisps into her mouth and munching loudly.

"Keep your beak out of it, I wasn't asking you for your opinion , cheers" Ichigo snapped "Anyway, you need to cook something nice and fresh because I'm having a friend over, yeah?"

Yuzu didn't quite fancy spending her weekend in the kitchen, but she didn't want to let her brother down.

Karin on the other hand wasn't having any "Your such a douchebag Ichigo! It's your friend, why should we have to slave around making five-course meals for you guys?, you tell me that!"

"Do you have to add your two cents to everything?" Ichigo sighed

"I don't mind cooking something new today!" Yuzu suddenly said brightly, hoping to stop the sparks that were flying in the air.

"See? 'Uzu doesn't mind, so in the future keep your bum out of business which aint yours, Karin."

"Wow, your so spine-chillingly witty Ichi-nee" Karin taunted, she'd never back down from a fight. She'd keep going until she lost fair and square.

Ichigo was tempted to up the ante of his rudeness level but decided to be the bigger person this time. He just shook his head and instead turned his attention to sorting out the mess on the sofa's.

"Which friend are you having over anyway?" Yuzu asked while she flicked through her recipe book. She was all out of idea's on what meal to prepare.

"Oh, just Uryu" Ichigo said nonchalantly, as though it was just a casual thing that somehow happened- not something he'd set up intentionally.

Karin looked up from the telly "Wha- What!? Uryu Ishida is coming over? Here? for lunch?" she quickly looked over at Yuzu to check her reaction.

"Wow, Mr. Ishida is coming over? What for?" Yuzu inquired, surprised at the sudden visit.

"Ah you know" Ichigo shrugged "Just invited him over spontaneously. Is it a crime to invite your friend's over these days or something?" he said getting defensive.

Karin checked Yuzu again, to make sure she didn't miss anything. "So, it's nothing to do with the marriage and stuff then?"

"What? Marriage!? what marriage!?" Ichigo cried taken aback, as if this was the first he'd heard of it- like he'd long forgotten about the whole thing.

Karin rolled her eyes, she could tell when Ichigo was fibbing. "Yeah right! He's coming over so he check out Yuzu, get a good look of her! The dirty old man!" Karin spat viciously.

"Eurgh, as if! Uryu isn't a perv, unlike you!" Ichigo shouted, wondering how anyone could accuse a chaste man so indifferently. Then again it was Karin. She said foul things about even himself, and he was her brother for crying out loud!

"That's not a very nice thing to say Karin!" Yuzu rebuked, not wanting to think ill of her potential suitor.

Karin looked back and forth between her siblings indignantly "What? I'm just telling it how it is! There's no point in sugar-coating a mans intentions- they're all the same!"

"Get lost you turd! Your so leery" Ichigo yelled "And before you get all giddy and spread rumours, Uryu is coming over on my request- he probably has no clue you two are even here- or exist for that matter."

Meanwhile Uryu was trying to decide what he was going to wear to the dreaded lunch of fate. What did Ichigo mean by make an effort exactly? Surely a clean t-shirt and a fresh pair of jogging bottoms was effort enough? Maybe round it off with some effective running trainers... Uryu dug around inside his walk-in closet for a pair of old joggers. As the minutes went by he became more frantic, ripping his clothes from the hangers and tipping piles of folded garments upside down. Suddenly it dawned on him. Uryu Ishida did not own a single pair of jogging bottoms. How was this possible?

Instead he picked up a pair of crumpled chino's that were dusty from age with his thumb and index finger, holding them up like it was a germ. It was the next best thing after joggers, so he tried them on with hope, but the fit was horrific, and they kept slipping off his hips. He sighed and picked up his cellphone- it was at times like this that he needed to call the fashion police.

"Hello? Inou-kun speaking"

"Orihime thank goodness!" Uryu cried "FASHION EMERGENCY!"

"Haha, what the heck? What's going on?" Orihime laughed

"I am having a really difficult time trying to decide what to wear to Ichigo's house today."

"How come?"

"I'm finding it tough to strike the perfect balance of making an effort but not overdoing it so it looks like I'm really excited, which really I am not." Uryu explained, scouring his wardrobe for anything he may have overlooked.

Orihime listened intently to what her friend had to say "Oh come on, I'm sure you have some smart but laid-back trousers lying around. Pair it with a chic blazer and some sleek shoes and you'll be good to go."

"You forgot to mention what kind of top I should wear beneath the blazer."

"Heck, forget the top. If your too high and mighty for plain t-shirts you can go without!" Orihime barked jokingly, imitating the chef from A Little Princess.

Uryu keeled over with laughter until he was gasping for air, finding the joke much more amusing then he should have.

"That sounds like a good plan" he said once he'd calmed down "I guess I was over-thinking"

Orihime nodded understandingly "Hey, have you thought of what your going to take for Yuzu as a present?"

"Wha- huh?"

"A present! It's common courtesy, you can't go over empty-handed you cheapskate!"

"Huuuuh? I'm not a cheapskate!" he complained "Give me any other occasion and I'd take an offering, believe you me, It'd be my pleasure. But like I sai-"

"Uryu. Shut. Up!" Orihime reprimanded "You have to take something! It's the right thing to do. They won't think your over-excited, okay? Infact the more you try to avoid being over-excited the more over-excited you'll appear!" She finished sternly.

Uryu listened obediently "Fine, fine, if you say so- I'll do what you tell me to do." he glanced at his surroundings before continuing "Thankyou for all your advice Orimei, it's a big help!"

"No problem Oreo! Try and have a nice day okay? and tell me how it all goes afterwards!"

"Okay, I will do my level best! Speak soon! Goodbye now, goodbye!"

He hung up and looked at his clothes with a new and refreshed fashion inspiration. With that little chat and reassurance he now had some kind of vision as to what he wanted to present himself like.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six:**

The doorbell at the Kurosaki's went, loud and clear.

Karin - who was in her room absorbed in an intense adventure game on her DS - threw the gaming device on the floor and raced like the wind through the corridor, and galloped heavily down the stairs making a huge noise, before fumbling around in an effort to undo the heavy chain that kept the frontdoor firmly closed. She would be the first to greet the famous Ishida, and scout out his motives.

Ichigo had also heard the bell, and he charged out of the kitchen "Don't answer, I've got it!" he roared.

But Karin paid no heed and threw the door open triumphantly.

Standing before her was the post-man, with a large aqua package at hand.

"What the heck?" It was Isshin's prescription medicine for diabetes. Ichigo glowered at Karin before taking over and signing the papers.

"Don't try anything funny next time. I won't let you beat me to the door twice in a row" He warned, placing the paper bag that contained various meds on the hallway table.

"We'll see about that" Karin murmured under her breath, while staying put. She'd have to stand guard in order to beat her big brother a second time.

Fortunately for her Ichigo had just nipped to the loo when the bell went again a few minutes later. She snatched it up immediately, much to the surprise of a startled Ishida who stood at the door, clad in an elegant Burberry suit. It was somehow sophisticated yet understated, but Karin who was clueless about the fashion world wondered who dressed so over-the-top to a casual lunch invitation.

"Hello there. Your Ichigo's sister... right?" Uryu greeted, frantically searching for her name which he had forgotten momentarily.

"Come on in" Karin grunted in reply. Once he had stepped inside she took a closer look at Yuzu's potential husband-to-be. She'd seen him before in passing when he came over, but not enough to make judgement of him.

"Where is Ichigo?" Uryu asked cautiously while looking around.

Karin ignored him and continued to scrutinize the details, pulling out a small pen and paper to jot down notes before craning her neck to get a good look of this tall boy. His hair was silky and healthy, no sign of premature balding- that much was reassuring, but she found his face rather strange and sinister. Karin shook her head disapprovingly and turned her attention to his physique, but was aghast at what she found. "Too skinny!" She spat "Not good for bearing sons!"

"What?" Uryu was taken aback, before a moment of laughter overtook him "Oh, I get it! Your copying the match-maker in Mulan, right?" he said, not realizing she was in fact serious about her remark.

Soon Karin's gaze fell upon the small bouquet of flowers and cookie basket he was holding. She grinned maliciously and chortled, "Who's the flowers for? Ichigo?"

"Uryu blud!" Ichigo cried just then "It has been time brav- it has been i _time_ /i!" He looked at Karin and frowned "She hasn't been harassing you has she?"

"No, she was just showing me inside."

"EXACTLY!" she bellowed annoyed.

"Whatevs, just buzz off and leave us alone." Ichigo shoved his sister aside and led Uryu into the kitchen, but she followed after them

"Yeah right, I'm not leaving this place- EVEN IF I DIE!" she shouted exaggeratedly.

In the kitchen Yuzu was busy cooking a variety of dishes, she was so engrossed in the instructions of her cookbook that she didn't realize anyone entering the room.

"Hey, 'Uzu, this is my friend. You know Uryu." Ichigo informed light-heartedly.

She looked up from the recipe she was trying to copy "Yes, I remember! How are you Mr. Ishida?" she beamed cheerfully, straightening out her yellow summer frock and fixing her strawberry hairpin in her soft blonde fringe.

"I'm very well, thankyou." he replied, his voice coming out more flat then he realized. He felt so uncomfortable that it took a nudge from Ichigo to get him to ask how she was doing back. "O-oh, by the way, I got you something," he remembered the gifts he was holding in his hands and gave them to Yuzu.

"Huh?" She said surprised, "Uuh, wow!... Thankyou! That's very kind... But why did you buy me something?"

"...? What do you mean?"

"It's just, why would you buy me something when your only here to have lunch with Ichigo?" she enquired.

Uryu could feel himself blushing with embarrassment as he heard the other two siblings muffle a giggle. Ichigo must not have told Yuzu that he was coming over to meet her /i _specifically_ i , that little detail must have slipped his mind. He felt such humiliation, handing out all these random gifts when Yuzu had no clue what was going on.

"W-well, it... It's not for you entirely. Its a family gift you know?" he stuttered "To share with the others. I just gave it to you because your practically the head of the house"

"Oh my! That's very lovely of you!" Yuzu fetched a jug of water and popped the flowers in them, and put the cookie basket on top of the fridge.

Meanwhile Uryu gave Ichigo the daggers. "What'd I do?" Ichigo whispered

"Why Didn't you tell Yuzu I was coming over, you plonker!" Uryu growled

"Don't get your boxers in a twist over it! I just thought it'd be more cas-chic and comfortable for the both of you if she was unaware of the formalities!"

"Well thanks to that I ended up looking like an idiot!"

Karin winced from her position at the dining table "What are you two whispering about?"

"Nothing!" they both said, snapping away from each other.

She narrowed her eyes even further suspiciously "Uryu... Come here," she indicated to the seat opposite her "Sit, sit"

The two lads both grabbed themselves a seat, and Yuzu set some glasses and a carton of juice down.

"So..." Karin began, sloshing some drink into Uryu's glass "Your here... Here you are."

"What are you getting at, you dork!" Ichigo questioned, annoyed at Karin's unnecessary presence. How was Uryu meant to get to know Yuzu with all of her interruptions?

"I'm not getting at anything, I'm just stating fact." she rolled her eyes and shook her head, turning her attention back to Uryu "Here's your juice. Drink up." She pushed the glass towards him and watched carefully as he drank- trying to see what his intentions truly were.

"What's up?" Uryu asked, the gawking unnerving him.

"I'm just curious to know... What do you think of my sister, Yuzu?"

He raised a brow "That's a weird question."

"Yeah, stop being such a freak!" Ichigo joined in

"Put a cork in it Ichi-nee! I'm asking a serious question"

Just then Yuzu came up with plates and bowls filled with all kind of various foods, from salads to fried things and other such condiments "I wasn't sure what you liked to eat Mr. Ishida, but I tried to make everything nice!"

"Wow, you made so much! Thankyou, It looks really delicious!" Uryu commented

"Yooou look delicious!" She replied innocently.

A perplexed Ishida turned to Ichigo "What have you been teaching your little sister?" he demanded

"What!?" Ichigo shrugged "We were only watching Defiance. I didn't think she would remember that part."

Uryu shook his head, then his eyes widened with panic as Yuzu piled the food high on his plate "N-no! That much is fine now! Thankyou!"

"Oh, I see! Well Don't hesitate to help yourself to more"

While everyone marvelled at the food Karin wasn't letting Uryu get of scot-free "Lets clear up the air shall we? Uryu, are you interested in marrying Yuzu or what?"

Ichigo gaped in disbelief at his sister's boldness, and Yuzu's fork clattered on the table. "KARIN! How could you ask something like that to our guest!?" She cried, although she also wanted to get some confirmation from him.

Ichigo simply watched his friend in silence, his mouth opening and closing like a fish. He knew how Uryu didn't deal well with being put on the spot. Well at least not when it was about something... like this.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven:**

"Um.." Uryu gazed at the ceiling hoping for a kick inspiration. "Well, Where do I start..." He trailed off.

"Y-you don't have to answer that!" Yuzu cried suddenly "Karin was just joking, weren't you?"

"Actually I was dead serious" Karin responded cooly, ramming a handful of onion rings into her mouth and crunching loudly "Anyway, what about you? How do you feel about getting married to this dork, now that you've seen him up-close and personal?" she asked raising a brow.

Poor Yuzu panicked and flapped her hands wildly "I...! Well I..." She looked down shyly and swallowed.

"Spit it out," Karin pestered "You said you were interested before, so confirm for us if you still are!"

"Hey!" Uryu cut in "Stop being a little jerk! Yuzu doesn't have to tell you any of that. Why are you putting her on the spot?"

"EXACTLY!" Ichigo snapped his fingers in agreement "We shouldn't rush this kind of thing. You guys just take your time, and lets carry on enjoying our lunch, yeah?"

"No," Uryu started suddenly. He wasn't exactly sure how Yuzu felt about this, but either way he didn't think it was fair to drag this mess on for God knew how long while she sat anxiously for an answer. "I'm really sorry about all of this." he began "I only came over today because Ichigo persuaded me to."

"What do you mean by tha'?" Karin asked

"What I mean is... I did come over to see you Yuzu, even though I'm not interested in marrying you."

Ichigo sat back and listened, folding his arms over his chest "I think you already know about all of those marriage plans my dad and your dad and everyone and their dog made without my consent months ago. I don't know exactly what Ryuuken told you-"

"He told me you knew all about this, and that you wanted to get to know me better too... That's why I agreed, you know... And because of brother Ichi's high recommendation and because... I do like you" Yuzu informed him in a small voice, her brown eyes wide with emotion.

Uryu sighed "Well, I actually knew nothing about this until a couple of days ago, looks like Ryuuken lied to you. And I like you too, don't get me wrong, but in the your-my-best-friends-little-sister kind of way. You see, it is as I said before, I only came to appease the masses, but I think that was very wrong on my behalf too. I should have put a stop to this ridonculousness sooner. I shouldn't have given everyone false hope,"

"FALSE HOPE!" Karin spat "You make it sound like we actually want you or something!"

"Whether you i _wanti_ me or not is besides the point. I still gave everyone the wrong idea by coming over like this."

Yuzu looked rather tearful. It wasn't like she was i _in/i_ love with him or had ever even thought about Uryu twice before, or marriage for that matter. But the way everyone had talked to her about the situation previously gave her the wrong impression. They made out as if it was practically a done-deal, as if the wedding was on as soon as she was ready. She had ended up pinning all of her future hopes and dreams on Uryu, and that made her feel rather betrayed and used.

Ichigo saw this and petted his sister's arm sheepishly. Uryu felt a stab of pain in his heart too, he felt really bad, but what other choice did he have? It was necessary to tell the truth, to prevent further confusion "I'm really sorry Yuzu. I'm really sorry that everyone was giving you misleading information. And I feel awful too, for not telling you sooner. I should have told you where I stood as soon as I arrived." He looked at her sincerely, hoping that she would understand his position.

"It's okay," she gulped "I know you were forced to do this, so it's okay."

Uryu closed his eyes and breathed out. "Well, I think I should head on home now." He said finally, getting up from his chair.

"WAIT!" Ichigo growled in a deep throaty voice "You think you can just ask and then just leave!?"

"Like bro says, you can't leave without payin!" Karin barked, imitating the poison brothers from the game Shenmue.

"I think its a bit late in the day to try and lighten the mood with your stupid jokes!" Yuzu cried running to her room.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight:**

It was now later in the day, evening time to be exact, and Uryu lay on the soft thick rug in his living room, with one leg propped up on the sofa. He had just finished an hour long conversation with Orihime who had come over soon after the whole ordeal about what had happened. He told her about his woes and worries and what a jackass he afeared he may have come off as, while Orihime consoled him and guaranteed him that Yuzu would understand in due time, if not already. She assured him that if he had already apologized then the burden was off his shoulders and there was nothing more to be done.

"Come on, don't worry. Ni'll put the kettle on." She said getting up. That was her favourite cheer-up catchphrase, and it always worked.

"Then, I'll take a cup of strong coffeh"

"You'll take what your given!" She barked, which cracked them both up.

They had soon moved on to talking about other various topics, from overrated movies, to their impressions of the latest runway trends, to coal-mining. Just as Uryu got absorbed in explaining his latest theories to Orihime he got a sudden phone call.

He was about to put his phone on silent when he saw that it was from Ichigo. "Oh, Sorry, can I take this?" He asked.

"Go ahead!" Orihime replied with cheer "Be anti-social then." she finished in mock bitterness, which made Uryu chortle before he answered the phone.

"Hello there? Ichigo?" .

"Hey dude," Ichigo said. He sounded more solemn then Uryu had heard him in... well, ages.

"Hey... Whats wrong Ichigo? You sound really... you know." Uryu's face washed over with worry. He hated it when his best bro was ever serious like this. Like he was sad over something.

"Ah" Ichigo began "It's nothing really... I just wanted to call you to let you know that I'm really sorry for earlier. For forcing you to be interested in Yuzu in all of that."

"Oh... Don't worry about that anymore"

"No, Really. You deserve a proper apology. I've already given one to Yuzu, and I've told my dad to back off, and I think I heard him spreading the news to Ryuuken. He knows what was going down now, so I guess you should expect an angry phone-call from your dad one of these days."

Uryu laughed "I see, so that's whats happened."

"Bro... HONTE SUMI-MASEN!" he cried

"It's okay Ichigo! I can tell how sorry you are. I bet you didn't realize just how deep this was and all that anyway."

"Yeah" He groaned

"I can't believe you would actually want me to be your brother in law! Were you high on something?" Uryu said suddenly in bewilderment.

"OI! I know I usually don't think things through, but I was really serious about you marrying Yuzu."

"Whaaaat!?"

"Really! It might sound weird but I just felt like if there was anyone I could trust Yuzu with it would be you. I mean, I've known you forever. I know that your an honorable man, and responsible. And it would bring us closer and all of that. It was actually quite a logical train of thought you know."

Uryu listened intently "Well, that is certainly high-praise, Ichigo. Thankyou, it means alot to me."

"This bromance is killing me!" Orihime who was leaning close to the phone so she could hear what was going on remarked.

Uryu put his phone on loudspeaker

"Hey! What're you doing there Orihime!? this conversation was meant to be private, for crying out loud!" Ichigo yelled, surprised.

"Gomei, Gomei!" She snorkled keeling over.

"By the way," Ichigo began "In case your wondering, which I know you are... Yuzu doesn't blame you for all the sheez that happened, so you don't have to feel bad about that from now on, okay?" He left out the bit where he had overheard Yuzu crying to Karin that she thought Uryu was a turd and she would never marry him even if he agreed to it.

"Really? well that's a relief! I'm glad she's not upset about it."

"Woah there, cowboy! I said she doesn't blame you, it don't mean she ain't upset!"

"Just when I was about to forgive myself!"

"Well, she's only upset with dad at the moment, believe it or not, haha!"


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine:**

Much to Uryu's surprise there was no angry phone-call from his father as Ichigo had predicted. Infact there was no phone-call at all. It seemed as though Ryuuken had taken to the Ignore-ALL approach. He had reverted to his ways of the past, not having interest in his sons life or making any effort to talk to him at all.

Uryu tried to not let it bother him too much. This was the Ryuuken he knew and... loved, after all. Of course it was a little disheartening when he had cancelled every single father-son bonding sessions since that fateful day, but what could he do?

Instead of letting it dampen his spirit Uryu used all of his attention on trying to gather up the courage and guts and balls and all else that went with proposing to the woman of ones' life and hopes. He came to the decision that he wouldn't let his shyness hold him back any longer- it was do or die!

The first step was finally taken two months after the ordeal with Ryuuken when Uryu had sent a bespoke card to Orihime's residence. It had a pretty water-colour painting on the front, and inside it read the following:

" _Dearest Ori-mei I-know-u,_

 _How are you doing? Good, I hope!_

 _I would really like it if you could go out with me this Saturday, if you have no other plans? I have arranged for us many adventures (kind of) to go on together._

 _Repondez s'il vous plait!_

 _From Ishida Oreo. =)_ "

Orihime was very surprised to receive a card from Uryu, as they usually always just called each other if they wanted to arrange to do something together. She liked it though, she appreciated his Germanic looking handwriting, and the little smiley face he had drawn at the end.

She of course accepted the invitation, and asked if there was any specific dress-code as he had mentioned "Adventures" in his card. But she was told that the dress-code was up for interpretation.

So Orihime browsed through her clothes "If we're doing something like rock-climbing it might be a safe bet to wear some comfortable jeans..." she looked at the card again, then reconsidered "Wait, Uryu wouldn't send me a card just so I can show up in jeans. He must have something special planned, so I should dress up a little bit. Not over the top of course, just in case we end up going to Bobs Gnarly Granola shop or something."

Orihime had gotten up early on Saturday, namely because the time Uryu had told her he would pick her up was rather early. Despite being wide awake with excitement she sighed and shook her head at the unearthly time, "Only Uryu would do this, only Uryu." she said to herself as she applied a layer of Mac creme lipstick in the mirror. Orihime was dressed in a checkered 40's inspired picnic dress paired with yellow mary jane stiletto's, and her soft voluminous curls cascaded around her shoulders.

Just as she was about to fix herself a hot drink the doorbell rang. "Eeek" Orihime said to herself as she stumbled over to a nearby mirror to check herself over one last time. Even though she and Uryu had gone to places together countless times, she somehow felt like this was more meaningful. She didn't know how she knew, she just did. Maybe it was her women's intuition kicking up again.

Orihime swung open the door to greet Uryu, and he gasped a little at her beauty. She had styled herself impeccably, each garment seeming to highlight her cuteness. He quickly dealt her a compliment, and talked extensively about her perfect style choices. He could have rambled on for a lot longer, but Orihime tired of the affection and told him to a put a sock in it. She needed some quiet so she could appreciate what i _he_ /i was adorned in.

Uryu, as usual was swathed from his ankles all the way to the neck in haute couture- one could almost smell the money (or maybe that was just his designer perfume).

"You just don't know how to hold back when it comes to fashion do you?" Orihime tutted, although she fully approved of his extravagance.

"I was taught that you can't cut corners with these things." He replied, cackling.

"I see, it makes perfect sense. By the way, I was just about to make myself a cup of coffee, do you want some?"

"We can get the coffee's on our way, there's no need for you to brew any."

"Or we could save the pennies and I'll make us a flask to take with us!"

"No, no Orihime, we'll get the coffee's from out."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, don't worry about the budget, lets just go!" Uryu grabbed her hand and led the way

"But Uryu, it'll only take a sec!"

"Enough!"

"I Promise, only a minute!" Orihime continued pestering about the home-made coffee and how much money they could have saved jokingly, even when they were in the car and were five streets away from her area.

The car journey turned out to take quite long, which explained why they had to leave early.

"Surprise!" Uryu said when they finally reached their destination, and Orihime couldn't believe her forelock.

They were standing in a large beautiful autumnal field. Of course it was autumn everywhere, but the extent to which you could appreciate it was limited in the city. Everything was so vibrant and orange and golden and there was acres of lush green grass and woods surrounding them. The sky was blue and bright and wonderful, and the air was pure, crisp and invigorating.

Orihime looked around with wide, delighted eyes."Wow...!" she breathed. "This is so... _lovely_!"

The two stood still as if unable to move by the sheer awesomeness of the view, hungrily taking in the beauty that surrounded them, until the distant high-pitch call of an animal broke the spell.

"Let's carry on," Uryu suggested, waving his hand in the direction of a gently rising hill with a little footpath. The entire way, Orihime's head was turned to her left, gazing at the horizon with all of its colourful trees and hills rising and falling in layers behind them. Orihime was always a sensitive one, but even _this_ was an exceptional reaction to the sights and sounds. So enraptured was she that she forgot to blink. Uryu couldn't help but smile to himself. He couldn't deny that things as they stood were going smoothly. Carry on like this and he'd be wed and off to honeymoon before he could say blut vein.

They were coming to the top of the hill when that sound came again, and this time it was clear enough to be recognised as a whinny. Orihime turned her head and gasped when she saw, coming towards them on the grassy shelf ahead, were two beautiful horses, harnessed and lead by a tall, elderly man.

"You're here? I was just about to come searching for you in case you got lost," the man called. He let go of the harnesses and walked over, shaking his guests' hands. "Welcome to the Horse Trail. I'm Ben, Ben Featherstaff." he nodded to Uryu, who was already acquainted, and looked at Orihime, who quickly introduced herself.

"A-are we _riding_ these babies?" Orihime asked Uryu quivering with eagerness.

"Yes, we are!"

They walked over to the horses and Ben Featherstaff gave them a little introduction, explaining the horses ages, breed, upbringing and personality.

"OH MY GOSH!" Orihime wailed with excitement when she saw the striking black horse she was going to ride. It was the most magnificent beast she had laid eyes on since sliced bread. It made Uryu's stallion pale in comparison. "OH MY GOSH!" she shouted again waving her arms around with frantic happiness. Orihime squealed and immediately tried to pull herself on. But with her heels it was trickier than it seemed and she wound up slipping off, holding the seat for dear life. Uryu held on to her while she freed her foot, heel 'n' all, from the stirrup, both of them laughing at her silliness.

"I'm not very good at this," Orihime told Featherstaff. "I've never ridden a horse before."

"All in good time, love." Ben anticipated the inappropriate footwear and handed Orihime something more suitable. "I'll leave you two to get acquainted with your new friends. I'll be in that little cottage over there- give me a shout if you need anything." and with that he turned and walked off towards the cottage that he'd pointed out, which was situated alongside a rustic-looking stable.

Orihime stroked her horses mane lovingly "Are you going to teach me how to ride Cornpone?" she asked Uryu

"Of course! I'm a decent teacher, and It's really easy to get used to!" he replied "But what I want to know is why you've named your horse Cornpone?"

She fell about laughing "Well, I forgot what Ben said her name was, but I have to call it something, you know?"

For the next hour Uryu attempted to teach Orihime how to ride a horse. She got the hang of sitting on it's back while it walked, but she grew impatient and wanted to know how to get it to run.

"It's dangerous if you haven't got the basics down. Lets start of slow" he assured her.

But sure enough she tired of her horse wondering aimlessly and not listening to her commands "Easy my butt!" She cried "It's no fun just sitting on the horses back like a lump!"

Uryu laughed light-heartedly "Well I can take you for a ride if you want?"

Orihime perked up "Yeah! we can go exploring all of that woodland over there on horseback!"

"Alright! Scoot" He indicated for her to move back on the horse and he mounted it with ease.

"Make her run really fast! All the way over there to other end!" Orihime pointed to the farthest end of the field.

"Sure, I'll do my best. It's a little dangerous, so make sure to hold on firmly, okay?"

she nodded obediently.

Uryu allowed Cornpone to trot first to let her stretch and also to familiarize with it. When she was warmed up he began to slowly start picking up speed. He made a quick prayer that the horse wouldn't throw him off it's back (that is a humiliation he didn't know how he'd recover from), and then transitioned into a gallop. At first Orihime let out a squeal of panic and clamped her eyes shut, her heart racing almost as fast as they was going, but then she braced herself and forced her eyes open and beheld the awesome feeling of seeing everything rushing by with such speed. "THIS IS SO MUCH FUN!" She shrieked with exhilaration as the cold breeze washed all over her face and swept through her hair "WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten:**

"That was so SO amazing!" Orihime yelled at the top of her lungs when they reached their destination.

"I'm really glad you enjoyed it!" Uryu replied enthusiastically whilst slowing Cornpone down so they could fully appreciate their surroundings as they entered the woodland. He had a big, nigh-containable grin on his face the whole way as the horse continued to clop steadily on. The view was simply breathtaking, from the gorgeous blazing orange of the leaves, and the sunlight that beamed through them, to the mysterious shadows that the long branches cast on the ground and the little birds that flitted here there.

"How about we explore on foot for a little bit?" He suggested suddenly "Wouldn't that be nice?"

"Ooh, that seems fun! Lets do that!" she agreed.

Uryu let himself down and helped Orihime off Cornpone and then tied the horse to a nearby tree. "What if we forget where you've tied her?" Orihime asked

"Don't worry, I'll remember." He assured as they went off.

The two of them continued to have lively conversations as they explored to their hearts content. They even found a delightful stream that had a bridge going over it leading to the other side. "I wonder where this could lead to!" Orihime cried "Maybe it leads to a witch's cabin!"

They both stopped walking when they were halfway across the bridge "Or, it could be a pathway to Narnia." Uryu joked and held onto the wooden rail whilst gazing at the stream that flowed beneath them.

"Or there could be a portal to the land of Oz at the far end." She suggested

"Now that-" Uryu indicated his finger "That I could see happening"

"Better still, maybe there is some quaint cafe hidden amongst all of the tree's that can offer us up some hearty food!"

"Are you hungry?" he quickly asked, worried she might be famished.

"No, I'm not hungry- but its always a nice thought right?"

He nodded his head "Well I'm glad your not starving, but I'll take you somewhere really nice to eat after all of this- don't you worry."

Orihime threw her hands in the air "Great! I look forward to this promise with great ardour!" She said, leaning her arms on the rail of the bridge.

They both fell into a bit of contemplative silence, and it was then that Uryu realized this was the moment he was waiting for- the perfect opportunity to ask her that life-changing question.

"Orihime," He began suddenly,

"Yeah?" She answered, but she carried on staring at the stream

"O-Orihime," He restated, and this time she looked up. "W-will y-you-" He stuttered and stammered just as he had prayed he _wouldn't_ for hours last night. His earlier confidence had evaporated and now he stood there timidly, self-doubt slowly creeping up on him. He couldn't even remember the speech he had pre-prepared "U-um will you..." He reached a shaky hand into his coat pocket but he found himself being unable to bring it back out.

"Will I?... What?"

Uryu swallowed back a lump in his throat and he could feel his face burning "Should we see what is on the other side of this bridge then?" He finished, cursing himself inwardly for not asking what he really wanted to.

"Sure! Is that all you wanted to ask?" Orihime raised a curious brow "Why did you look like you were about to cry over it?"

"I didn't look like that!" He defended

Orihime watched him carefully. This thought had crossed her mind many a times before, but today felt like a confirmation. Because today she had the most amazing time ever, it was so wonderful and intriguing and fun to be with Uryu. But she couldn't deny that it annoyed her that he hadn't proposed to her yet. I mean after all of this time! And she had made it pretty clear that she liked him. She sighed "Uryu! Will you just marry me already?"

Uryu's eyes widened with shock "W-what did you just say?"

"You heard me!" She tapped her foot "Will you marry me?"

"YES PLEASE! OF COURSE! YES!" He shouted "Will you marry me too!?" He quickly whipped out a small Tiffany box that was in his pocket and untied the ribbon.

"YOU DAWG!" She cried "You were going to ask me this whole time!?" She demanded jumping up and down with excitement as Uryu clicked open the lid of the inner box and presented her with the most stunning ring she had ever lay her eyes on "OF COURSE I'LL MARRY YOU!" she nodded her head rapidly as he slipped the ring onto her engagement finger.

"YOU WILL!?" Uryu shrieked in response. "I CANT BELIEVE YOU WILL!"

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU PRESSURED ME INTO ASKING FIRST YOU DOUCHEBAG!" Orihime threw herself into Uryu's arms with happiness "I can't believe my damned forelock!"

"I'm sorry" Uryu apologized "I thought you would reject me..."

"Yeah, good excuse!" Orihime rolled her eyes, but carried on grinning joyfully, whilst admiring her beautiful ring. "I'm actually going to marry _you_! You, Uryu, You!"

"I can't believe you'll really marry _me_!" Uryu had never felt this animated in his whole life before. He'd finally gotten what he wanted for so long- it felt surreal. He felt a lump forming in his throat, and he tried to swallow it down but then his nose suddenly went runny and he sniffed it back but then his eyes went blurry. All the emotions were just building up and spilling over with relief and happiness.

'Uryu, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine I just..." he gulped again and clutched his stomach which felt like an army of butterflies were fluttering inside, "I feel kind of sick with happiness." he choked out.

"Eurgh, don't you dare feel sick on me!" Orihime said and shoved him playfully. "Your nose has gone all red. Gasp! Are those _tears_!?"

"No!" Uryu quickly brushed an arm over his eyes, skillfully wiping away the tears that were threatening to spill out.

"You're so weird and funny," Orihime laughed. "I love you."

That was the final straw. Uryu had spent countless hours dreaming about marrying Orihime, and even in his dreams he couldn't imagine her lips forming those words. He'd never dared to imagine it. It was too much. Unrealistic. Stupid of him.

And yet, here she was right in front of him on this beautiful day, laughing and smiling, and _saying_ it. Saying _I love you_. The last person to ever say that was... his Mother. And since then, he'd never felt loved or wanted. It pissed him off how Ryuuken treated him, but he never thought he actually _missed_ being loved.

He couldn't stop the tears anymore. And he didn't care. The cold tears felt good on his hot face. He sniffed hard, because no matter how in love you are snot is never pretty, and smiled the biggest, genuine smile he'd given in the longest time. "I-I love you too," he replied, surprising himself. He never thought he could say those words aloud without biting his tongue or choking and suffocating to death, or just dying straight up. But, he realised, this was a day full of surprises. And he hugged Orihime with all the strength his newfound joy and confidence gave him, and hoped the surprises would keep coming.

 **THE END**


End file.
